


Cactus Blossoms

by Writing_rogue



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Affairs, Android!Markus, Angst, F/M, Gardener Ralph, Human!Ralph AU, Pre-injury Ralph, Smut, You're Married to Carl, star-crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:46:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_rogue/pseuds/Writing_rogue
Summary: You were just too good to be true, the most beautiful flower in the garden and Ralph couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of you. It was just a forbidden fantasy thinking about you, until it wasn’t, and he was taking risks he never dreamed he could before to be able to get even a taste of your heavenly touch.But it was too good to be true, and he couldn’t run away from the consequences much longer.





	1. Red Tulips

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to IndefinateSpace and Cybrno for helping me edit and write this story.

You lean your head back against the wall, breath catching as soft lips leave a trail of kisses down your neck. Warm hands slowly wander up your thighs, bringing your skirt along with them. His mouth opens so he can suck on your skin, tasting it just for a second, before moving on. He knows better than to leave a mark. The blonds thumbs run teasing circles on your inner thighs as he presses kisses to your exposed shoulder.

“Ralph,” you whimper out, begging him to stop his teasing with that one word. He pulls away from you slightly, eyes closed as if he was savoring the sound of you saying his name. When those eyes flicker open, you notice the normal hazel color was almost completely taken over by the black of his pupils.

“Alright my flower, take off your clothes and go lay down on the bed,” he says softly, one of his hands brushing a stray strand of hair out of your face. He gives you a chaste kiss, hands slowly sliding off your body; as if he can’t bare the thought of not touching you for even a second. “Please.” You do as your told, glancing over your shoulder as you pull your dress off your shoulders, letting it pool around your ankles, feeling a small swell of pride as he bites his lip at the sight of you almost completely bare. Turning back to face the bed as you take off your bra and panties, you can’t help but feel a little bit amused. After all, it wasn’t really a bed. Just a mattress with blankets covering it, sitting on the floor. Ralph had gotten it after you had nearly cracked your head open while he did wicked things to you with his tongue one afternoon. Still, you appreciated that he had thought to get it as it was a lot more comfortable than fucking on the floor or up against the wall, Ralph was always so thoughtful. You jump as his hands land on your bare waist. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, before kissing your temple. 

As Ralph presses himself against your back, it becomes apparent that he took off his clothes while you were lost in thought. The feeling of his skin against yours is amazing, and you can feel the warmth he radiates, you relax in his arms as his hands run up and down your sides.

“Ralph,” you hum out in barely a whisper as you enjoy the feeling of being in his arms. His cock twitches against your back at the sound of his name once again spilling from your lips, hands stilling as he lets out a shaky breath.

“Lay down on your back flower, I want to see all of you.” He whispers, giving you soft but insistent push toward the bed. A silent reminder that you didn’t have all night to stay here in his arms. You lay down with your head on a folded blanket you’ve been using as a makeshift pillow everytime you come here to see him. He crawls between your legs from the foot of the bed, gently raising one of your legs so it's bent up over his shoulder, and starts to kiss from your knee down the inside of your thigh. Your breath hitches as his lips hover so close to where you want him you can feel his warm breath. “You’re so beautiful like this, all spread out and desperate, so lovely.” 

Before you can even respond, he buries his face between your legs causing you to cry out his name in surprise. He goes down on you like a man starved, Licking, sucking, moaning as the taste of you coats his tongue. One of your hands goes to his hair tangling itself into the stands as he begins to focus his attention on your clit. One of his fingers slips inside of you with ease. That one quickly becomes two, and as soon as he curls his fingers up against that sweet spot inside you, his finger thrusting hard and fast, you are a goner.  You cum, your hand in his hair pulling hard enough to get him to let up with his mouth. He keeps fucking you through the aftershocks, looking up at you with a smirk. He slowly pulls his fingers out when you start to whimper at the over stimulation. Ralph trails feather light kisses up your body, stopping as he gives you a series of short kisses on your mouth.

“Please,” you whisper against his mouth. “Please Ralph, I want you.” He looks down at you, his eyes still dark with lust with his cock twitching against your hip. He adjusts himself between your legs so he can rub his erection against your soaking wet entrance. 

“If you’re sure.” He says back, staring into your eyes, brushing his lips against yours as the head of his dick catches on your entrance, not quite pushing in yet. 

“Please,” you whisper again, moaning as he pushes the head inside of you. With a series of unhurried, careful thrusts, he inches his way into your core, groaning softly. He stops, looking into your eyes with hunger that is softened at the edges by something unspoken that bleeds into his kisses. He starts fucking you hard and slow. 

“You’re so beautiful like this,” He moans, running his one of hands down your side until he can hold onto your hip. His thrusts gradually start to speed up until he is fucking you in earnest, groaning desperately in your ear. “Such a good girl for me, you feel so good, fuck baby.” You whimper back, unable to form words anymore as you approached your peak. His hand slides from your hip, thumb rubbing your clit in quick little circles. “Cum for me.” With a choked off moan of his name, you do, clenching around him. He fucks you through it, before pulling out and quickly cumming on your stomach and chest with a groan. You both sit there panting as you come down from your highs. Ralph gives you a few more chaste kisses on your face before grabbing a rag off the shelf and using his water bottle to wet it so he can clean you up.  

“Are you alright Erica? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He asks, slight worry apparent in his tone. 

“I’m fine Ralph,” you respond, sitting up and laying a soft kiss on his cheek, letting yourself savor him for just a moment longer. You slip off the bed gracefully, grabbing your clothes from the floor.

“I have something for you.” He says, getting up and pulling out a small bouquet of red tulips from on one of the shelves of the shed, excitedly handing them to you. You admire them for a moment. Something in the back of your mind tells you that you shouldn’t accept a gift like this from him, but you ignore it whispering a small thank you to your lover. You can feel his eyes on you as you start putting your clothes back on. “Stay?” Ralph timidly asks. You almost don’t catch it, tensing as your perfect bubble bursts.

“You know I can’t do that Ralph.” you sigh, already feeling the tears start to well up in your eyes as you stand, arms wrapping around yourself, as if it will protect you from the emotional fallout. “I shouldn’t have come back, I’m sorry,”  You rush out of the small shed that had become a shameful hideaway where you could pretend you weren’t doing something wrong. You think you hear a call of wait from behind you, but you're already running, tears streaming down your face as you look for some place where no one will find you and ask whats wrong. Quietly you enter the mansion, stifling your sobs against one of your hands. Locking yourself in one of the spare bedrooms, you collapse on the floor, tears streaming down. Your nails dig into your arms as you hold onto yourself, the pain a small penance for what you had just done. What you had been doing for weeks,  _ months _ now. “I’m sorry Carl,” you whisper to yourself once again, promising yourself that this couldn’t happen again. That you couldn't go back to Ralph. Reminding yourself that he deserves better than that. That Carl deserves better than a slut who cheats on him. “I’m so, so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only the beginning of this angst-filled story. Comment and tell me what you think, to send poor Ralph some love he's going to need it.


	2. Orange Mocks

You wake up slowly feeling a hand running gently up and down the back of your neck, soothing you,  _ enticing you _ , to curl up closer to the warm body lying beside you. Opening your eyes, you see your best friend, your husband, Carl. It takes you a few seconds to remember, but your brain eventually focuses. After you had calmed down last night, you took a shower and crawled into bed with him, where you should have been the whole time. A pang of guilt reminds you of your infidelity, you don’t deserve the gentleness in his touch. You push the feeling to the back of your mind, knowing if you let yourself dwell on it you’ll end up in tears again. You focus on Carl, tracing your fingers over one of his tattoos to distract yourself.

“You’re up early, Carl.” You say quietly, looking up at his face, admiring his almost grey-blue eyes. There were a lot of things about Carl that you adored, and his stormy eyes were one of them.

“No, you just slept in late today. What kept you from coming to bed?” He asks, and the guilt pushes its way back to the forefront of your mind.

“Nothing... I just had a lot on my mind, and I didn’t want to keep you awake.” You respond, only a half-truth but still better than outright lying to his face.

“You want to talk about it?” Carl asks, taking your hand in his in what is supposed to be a comforting gesture, but only making you feel even more guilty about what you had done yesterday. What you have been doing for quite some time now. You bury your face in his chest to hide the tears welling up in your eyes. 

“It’s just something stupid I have to deal with by myself, Carl.” You say, muffled against his chest. Carl's chest rises as he no doubt prepares to give you his speech about not suffering alone in silence when Markus walks in.

“Good Morning Carl,” He says as he walks over to the window and pulls open the curtains, drowning all three of you in sunlight. Listing off monotony about the weather and Carl's schedule for the day he comes around the bed. He prepares to give your husband his injection, but you’re not paying attention to any of it, too busy trying to keep yourself calm in the android's presence. You can't be sure, but you think that he might know something he shouldn't, if the sneaky disapproving looks he sends your way are any indication. There is only one thing keeping you guessing is if he knows about your affair with Ralph. If he knows then, why doesn’t he tell Carl about it?

“Y/n would you please let go of Carl so I can take him to the bathroom?” Markus’ tone is polite as always, but you can’t help but wonder, is it just a formality. Deep down, is he angry at you for cheating on Carl? Does he want to scream, curse you out, and tell you what a lousy person you are for doing this to your husband? Then again, who knew if he can even feel something like anger. Cyberlife always insists that their robots only emulate human emotions, that they don’t feel anything at all.

Moving away from Carl, you watch as the android carefully carries him away. No, not even Kamski himself could convince you that Markus emotions were fake, you know the love that boy feels for Carl is real. That’s what makes what you were doing with Ralph all the more painful. Not only are you to lying and hurting Carl, but you are disappointing and hurting Markus as well. Quickly you get dressed and head downstairs, hoping to get a moment to yourself where you can just exist without a constant reminder of your guilt. You sit down at the piano playing random notes, improvising, trying to lose yourself in the tune.

“Are you going to play for us, Angel?” Carl asks as Markus wheels him into the room, the nickname bringing the guilt pouring back over you like a bucket of ice water. You force yourself to smile as you walk over and sit next to him at the table.

“No Carl, I was just messing around.”   
He shakes his head at you obviously disappointed, but he just turns the TV on instead of saying anything, telling Markus to go find something to do while the two of you eat. A story that scrolls by on the news banner catches your interest as the anchors goes on about the newest technology cyberlife has come up with. “There are android gangs now?” You voice your surprise to no one in particular. 

“What?” Markus says seeming just as surprised as you at this development.

“I’m not surprised,” Carl chimes in, “With how people badly some people treat androids, there was bound to be some resentment. I just wish that they could find a better way to express their anger than violence against the innocent.” The rest of the morning is calm with Markus deciding to play a game of chess with Carl before they both retire to the studio to paint. Sitting on the window sill, you look out at the garden marveling at its beauty.  _ Ralph really knows how to bring out nature's beauty,  _ you think to yourself feeling the ache in your chest _.  _ It was easy to forget that he could be hurting too, he wasn’t exactly innocent in this situation, he knew you were married when he started sleeping with you after all. But, the majority of the guilt had to fall on you for even considering doing something with the kind gardener, who always smiled at you when you came back from your walks.

You remember how it was back then; a silly attraction that you'd thought would go away with time but had only become stronger the more you spent time with him. Memories of bring him glasses of ice water when the sun beat down on him mercilessly on those afternoons. Watching him smile as he thanked you, his hand brushing yours, causing a blush to spread on your cheeks and the butterflies to flutter in your stomach. It seemed so simple, starting out. Just a fleeting attraction, an innocent crush, but it didn't stay that way for long.


	3. Moonflowers and Morning Glories

You finally understood why Carl hated going to those fancy art parties he got invited to so often. The exhibit itself wasn’t the problem; unlike Carl, you found getting to see all the new art people were creating interesting. Though you were not too proud to admit you still have a bias toward Carl’s work over others. No, the problem with these parties, was the people who attended them. Rich snobs disconnected from reality walking around and judging the people beside them even more harshly than the art. You could feel their eyes on you all night, uncontrolled surprise and disgust flashing their faces when they found out that you were Carl's wife. For the most part, you could handle it, after all, it was nothing new. People had always disapproved of you and Carl even back when you were just friends, but then you were introduced to one. Mr. Kamski.

“Carl, glad to see you out and in the world again!” The brunette says as he walks up to where you were sitting with Carl enjoying a moment away from disapproving eyes. 

“Elijah, nice to see you again.” Carl responded, “What’s it been? Almost a year now?”

“Yes, last time I saw you I gave you Markus,” Kamski said to him before eyeing you, “One of my finest if I do say so myself. I was hoping he would be the one to finally get you out of the house, but it looks like your… Wife, beat him to it.” You tried to ignore his emphasis of your title, inching just a little closer to Carl as the man’s gaze started to make you uneasy.

   “If it helps you feel better Markus and her ganging up on me is what finally forced me out of the house.” Carl said continuing before you could even try to argue with his statement. “And I don’t want to inflate your ego any more than it already is but that boy is one of a kind, Elijah. I will never understand how you make such perfect machines.” That comment made Kamski chuckle, something about it unsettling you even more than he already had. 

   “Androids are easy Carl, just some basic hardware and a few lines of computer code and you have a machine that is so close to a human it seems real. They are obedient, loyal, honest, practically perfect in every way. Unlike humans who lie and betray even those closest to them if it suits their needs.” Kamski said, and you knew that comment about betrayal was aimed at you. Part of you wanted to slap him across his stupid face right then and there. What did he know about you? Just because you were younger than Carl didn’t mean you were going to betray him, you weren’t some gold digger! You were his best friend. No, you wouldn’t give this creepy man that satisfaction of seeing you react to him even if he did. You took a deep breath as you slid Carl's hand in yours, pulling it into your lap and gently playing with his fingers. Mapping out their texture always calms you down, tracing over the unique calluses from his painting waiting for them to finish their conversation. The rest of your time there was a blur of fake smiling and pretending that everything was fine, despite all of the eyes watching your every move. Probably thinking you were just another gold digger like Kamski obviously did.

   By the time you got home you were exhausted, but in a great irony, you found yourself unable to sleep. So you step out into the garden hoping the fresh air will help. The grass is cool and soft under your feet as you wander over to the pond, almost laughing at your reflection in the water. You had thrown a garnish sheer white robe with furry trim around the sleeves and the bottom hem that Carl bought you as a joke over the bra and panties you wore to bed, only to make yourself feel less exposed if you ran into Markus. Letting out a small giggle you twirl letting the robe billow around and wrap around your ankles as you come to a stop. That carefree attitude left you when your eyes caught movement toward the edge of the yard. 

   “Who’s there?” You call out squinting as you try to see the person through the dark, heart picking up speed as you prepared to run back inside if you had to.

   “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” A soft male voice says as the figure steps out of the shadows into the moonlight. As your eyes adjust you start to relax it was the gardener. What was his name? Ron...Ray...Ralph, that's the one! You feel your fear die down only to be replaced by confusion.

“It’s alright, but what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” 

“I’m here to tend the moonflowers. It’s easier to see which flowers need to be cut off when they are open.” He responds like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, gesturing over to the large bush behind you covered in beautiful white flowers.

   “Oh.” You feel almost embarrassed for not even knowing that bush had flowers much less that Carl’s gardener was so dedicated to making it look nice that he came here in the middle of the night to tend to it. You watch as he goes over to the bush, kneeling down, hands gently moving over the flowers carefully snipping off those that were starting to wilt. He seemed so focused on what he was doing, you almost jumped when he spoke to you again.

   “I like your outfit.” He says quietly, glancing over at you with a smile before turning back to his work. You felt your cheeks heat up as you realized just how revealing the what you have on is. It was one thing for Markus to see you like this, but Ralph? God you were embarrassed.

   “Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to be out here.” You say, it coming out as barely a whisper. But you know that Ralph hears you when he hums in acknowledgment. Part of you wants to go inside and hide, to be ashamed that he saw you so exposed, but another part of you just wants to stay out here and watch him work. Something about him drawing your focus. It’s the latter part that wins as you walk around the garden watching, as he trims two more bushes, moonflowers he tells you again, before getting up and dusting himself off. 

“I’ll leave you alone now,” He says walking over towards you, stopping beside you to add a quiet, “Goodnight.” You don’t know what comes over you, but you find yourself grabbing his hand before he can get more than a few steps closer to the gate. He seemed so kind and after all that time with people looking at you like you were nothing but a whore you wanted to feel like someone cared.

“I...would you stay? I mean- if you don’t mind just for a little while.” As you ask the question, you realize just how ridiculous you were being. But before you can apologize he nods, pulling the shawl he was wearing off his shoulders and spreading it on the ground like a blanket.

   “Here. Now we can sit for a while without you getting your robe dirty.” He has humor in his eyes as he says the last part of his sentence, but there is no malice. It feels like you sit on the makeshift blanket for hours talking about everything and nothing. He tells you about all the plants in the garden, his eyes holding so much joy and passion as he speaks. You can’t help but find it cute. Ralph had always been handsome, but he was downright adorable when he was excited like this. Before long you knew you had to head up to bed and he had to go home, both of you leaving each other with a promise to talk like this again sometime soon. You didn’t know back then what it would lead to, only that you craved someone like him who was sweet and didn’t immediately assume you were a bad person because you were with Carl. Someone who saw you as you were.


End file.
